Chapter 185: Big Thunder!

After dinner, Zhang Su personally brought food to the guest room where Xiao Xingyun was holding Guo Dachao and Yang Wenjie under house arrest.

"Want something to eat?"

Zhang Su entered and placed a large bowl of egg noodles on the table.

The egg noodles, sprinkled with scallions and floating with sesame oil, might have seemed unremarkable before the disaster, but now their aroma filled Guo Dachao and Yang Wenjie's nostrils, stirring their hunger and making their stomachs rumble as they swallowed saliva repeatedly.

"Want to eat…"

Guo Dachao answered honestly, his eyes fixed on the huge bowl of noodles.

"Answer a few questions first, and this bowl of noodles is yours."

"Okay, okay, big brother, ask anything—we'll tell you everything!"

When you're under someone else's roof, you must bow your head—especially when delicious food sits right before you; there's no need to be proud.

"There weren't even signposts on the road—how did you find your way here?"

Zhang Su had no doubt about Old Li's leadership; given Old Li's cunning nature and the team's combat strength, they certainly wouldn't have failed.

Of course, it wasn't because he hoped the United Village would turn virtuous, but because if they focused on breeding and farming, they could become an excellent trading partner in the future.

???

Zhang Su asked with complete honesty.

"Uh, big brother, any more questions?"

Guo Dachao and Yang Wenjie exchanged glances.

Zhang Su nodded; from his perspective, the Survivor Alliance seemed tyrannical, but that was the way to survive in the apocalypse—the distinction between inside and outside was stark.

Speaking of this, both felt helpless; in today's world, people stole, robbed, plundered, and cheated to get supplies—compared to them, the people of West Camp Village were already very mild-mannered.

Guo Dachao recalled and said.

"Looks like I overthought it—the disaster struck without warning, and with the military base densely populated, it must have been horrific…"

Zhang Su put himself in their shoes: would he risk his life to avenge a companion he'd only known for two days? The answer was no—even without life-threatening danger, he'd only act if it served his interests…

From their account, he gained a preliminary understanding of the Survivor Alliance, but since he had no intention of entering the city, as long as they didn't cause trouble up north, there'd be no contact.

"Beidong Town? No… a dilapidated town, completely deserted—no zombies, no people, no supplies."

"Heard of it—what's up? Is there a large survivor settlement there?" Guo Dachao asked hopefully.

"Eat. Eat while we talk."

Zhang Su pulled out a pack of cigarettes and generously tossed two to Guo Dachao and Yang Wenjie.

"When you came out of the city, did you encounter villagers collecting tolls at the bridge?"

"Attitude? To survive north of Construction Street, unless you hide constantly, once found, you have only two choices: join the Survivor Alliance, or leave. If you join, hand over half your supplies; if you're expelled, they take everything."

"Uh…" Guo Dachao choked, patted his chest, and said, "We've been avoiding them. We only know the Alliance leaders carry guns, and we heard they plan to clear out the Three Courts—nothing else."

"Stop dreaming. We've been there—these guns came from there. Only three soldiers are left!"

Qin City's Three Courts stood not far from the Lebuy Mall, connected by a pedestrian street.

Zhang Su continued asking.

Guo Dachao and Yang Wenjie exchanged glances and smiled bitterly: "Big brother, we were in the wrong back then. Your companion responded normally—we know you might not believe us, but we didn't think much of it at the time. The man shot was Xiao Teng; he never mentioned revenge, just said he was unlucky and accepted it…"

Guo Dachao nodded: "We did. They were from West Camp Village. They said anyone crossing the bridge had to pay with supplies—they took one box of instant noodles and one box of powdered milk from our vehicle. They had guns—we had no choice."

Zhang Su sat nearby watching the two wolf down their food and asked.

Several lit cigarettes. Guo Dachao said: "That… that Fenglin Guesthouse over there was co-owned by a friend of mine. I stayed there for a few days when it first opened last year, so I remember it… Actually, I came here hoping for luck—if Tianmayu fell, I planned to head straight north to Qingxian. There's a military base there—might be better."

"What's the Survivor Alliance's attitude toward other survivors?" Zhang Su asked.

"What else do you know about the Survivor Alliance?"

He only hoped Old Li would achieve something—he'd invested a 【Mark of Loyalty】 in him, after all!

"Yeah, people just want to live…"

"The military base would be better…" Zhang Su sighed, scratching his head. "Do you know a regiment is stationed at No. 1 Cultural Road in Qin City?"

Guo Dachao's attention remained fixed on the egg noodles.

"What about when you passed Beidong Town afterward? Did you encounter anything?"

Zhang Su pushed the large bowl forward—it was a substantial portion, enough even for Zhao Dechu, the biggest eater.

People are this pragmatic—survival in the apocalypse makes it even more so.

Guo Dachao, with a look of recollection, said: "On the day we stole the car… the four of us had only just met two days prior—we didn't know each other before. Big brother, are you worried we'll avenge our teammate? Don't worry—we won't do that. We just want to live."

"We've researched you two. Recruiting new members requires great trust. Regarding the incident where one of your team members was killed, do you have anything to say?"

Zhang Su licked his lips. "What was your relationship with him before?"

"A survivor group stayed at the military base. There weren't many—only about ten. With the base's supplies, they probably grew stronger by now."

To survive—such a simple, pure desire.

Zhang Su nodded thoughtfully; it seemed the United Village truly wasn't into highway robbery. That was good news for him.

"I can give you an opportunity!"

Zhang Su said slowly: "You can see our safe zone is under construction—we're short on hands. You can stay and work, get food guaranteed, but you can't carry weapons, and your movements will be restricted. Any problems?"

"Work? Sure! As long as we get a meal, we'll work!"

Guo Dachao raised no objections. After a month of fleeing, he was truly exhausted. Now, if he could just have a stable environment and live like a human being, that was enough. Restricted movement? Pfft. Entering someone else's base—you lose freedom until you earn trust.

Yang Wenjie naturally had no objections either, and she actively asked Zhang Su for details about the work.

Zhang Su was very satisfied with their attitude. Stealing the car was terrible, but it was a matter of principle—not proof that they were evil. On the contrary, he felt both were pragmatic and hoped they would integrate into the base.

The next day, Guo Dachao and Yang Wenjie officially joined the Tianmayu Safe Zone's construction. Guo Dachao was assigned to mix cement and build walls; Yang Wenjie was tasked with cutting wood and making barricades.

Zhang Su's mission shifted slightly: Beizi Town still had about half left to relocate, but the immediate priority was finding traces of the Beitaizi Camp group.

Yet unexpectedly, the Beitaizi Camp group vanished as if erased—five days passed, and not a single clue surfaced. Even the United Village had no information on them.

It was as if the group had suddenly disappeared from the land—unnatural, abrupt.

Just as everyone assumed the Beitaizi Camp group had retreated in defeat, something happened.

That morning, Zhang Su prepared as usual to go scavenging when he saw Zhao Dechu and Yu Qing walking toward him, beaming.

"Big brother, good morning! Hahaha!"

"Dechu, what's got you so happy?"

"Look—my wife made it! Big Thunder!"

As he spoke, Zhao Dechu pulled a lump of dirt from behind his back, topped with a one-foot-long fuse.

"Big Thunder?"

Zhang Su's lip twitched. He carefully took the round, lumpy dirt ball—it was two fists wider than his own, like a small watermelon, heavy enough to weigh about two catties.

"It's a bomb. Dechu insisted on giving it this weird name. With limited resources, we couldn't make a stable impact-triggered bomb—only this primitive fuse-delayed one. Boss, wanna test its power?"

Yu Qing pointed toward the mountain ravine.

"Haha, having one is already great. The fuse looks good—safety first… won't you blow up the whole mountain?"

Zhang Su immediately grew interested, walking toward the ravine as he spoke.

"Big brother, you're dreaming. Even if you turned all the raw materials you brought back into bombs, you'd barely scratch the mountain—no, not even a scratch. At best, it'd be like scratching an itch."

Zhao Dechu chatted on.

"You've got no faith in your wife's craftsmanship. By the way, this fuse is long—what's the safe distance?"

Zhang Su hefted the Big Thunder and asked.

"A hundred meters. Best to place it at a fixed spot—I calibrated the fuse burn rate: roughly one centimeter per second. This fuse is forty centimeters long."

"A hundred-meter safe distance. Got it!"

Zhang Su mentally calculated: a hundred meters meant at least fifteen seconds—more than enough safety margin.

"Hey, Boss, where are you going?"

"Boss, what's that in your hand?"

"Holy crap—you're not gonna test the bomb, are you?"

In no time, Zhang Su's group attracted attention—seven or eight others rushed over to watch.

"Big brother, let me light it! Let me!"

At the site, Zhang Su found a clear patch of rocky ground, placed the Big Thunder, and Zhao Dechu eagerly volunteered to light the first one.

"Are you even healed yet? If you light it and fall over, are you trying to die?"

Zhang Su eyed Zhao Dechu's injured leg skeptically.

"I'm as nimble as ever! Look—I can jump… run—no problem at all!"

Zhao Dechu demonstrated on the spot.

Seeing he'd fully recovered, Zhang Su gave up arguing. As they walked away, he told the crowd: "Fall back, fall back—this thing's powerful. If you get hit, it's not a work injury."

"Really? Boss, how powerful is this dirt lump?"

"I believe you, Boss—I really do."

From their reactions, it seemed they had little faith in the dirt bomb—but since Yu Qing stood nearby, they refrained from openly joking.

Zhang Su led everyone a hundred meters away and waved to Zhao Dechu.

"Watch closely, folks!"

Zhao Dechu, long waiting, bent down, lit the fuse, and sprinted away—his steps swift and sure, proving his injury was truly gone.

Others couldn't see the fuse burning, but Zhang Su could—he silently timed it. The burn rate matched Yu Qing's description exactly.

Silent waiting.

When the fuse burned out, the expected explosion never came—just as someone was about to tease…

BOOM!

A tremendous crash echoed through the mountain ravine, stones flew everywhere, and dust spread thickly.

Some who had already relaxed were startled, even those working in the camp were jolted.

"No."

Yu Qing was the first to speak, rubbing her head: "The power is far weaker than expected—the blast radius just now was at most ten meters…"

The sound was loud, but the actual explosive effect fell short.

"Hmm…" Zhang Su encouraged: "It's not bad. Grenade blast radius is about this size anyway. But as a delayed-explosion bomb, the power could still be increased."

"See? I told you it's just scratching the mountain's itch, hehe… Don't worry, sweetheart, keep going!"

Zhao Dezhu awkwardly came to Yu Qing's defense.

"Now that we have an explosion as reference, fine-tuning will be easier." Yu Qing was confident; she didn't mind failure—such things rarely succeed on the first try.

First test detonation: success, power: slightly insufficient.

This is the process from zero to one. Once you have one, subsequent improvements become much easier.

Zhang Su gathered his team, got in the vehicle, and left the camp to clean out Niuziquan Town.

"Big brother, celebrate my return to the field—I'll come back loaded to the brim!"

In the minivan, Zhao Dezhu shouted excitedly into the walkie-talkie.

Given his earlier wild leaps and bounds through the forest, Zhang Su finally agreed to let him go out again.

"Uncle, the fuel gauge shows we're running low—we need to find somewhere to refuel."

Pang Dankun sat in the passenger seat of the Prado; both he and Zhang Su ignored Zhao Dezhu's boasting.

Zhang Su glanced at the fuel gauge and nodded: "There are abandoned cars in Niuziquan Town. We can just siphon the fuel."

As they spoke, the two vehicles rolled onto the rural side road.

But just as they were about to reach the main road, an accident occurred.

Zhang Su, driving ahead, scanned the distant road as usual—suddenly, a few out-of-place clumps of soil appeared in his peripheral vision. He turned his head and saw signs of disturbed earth beside the side road.

Had he not traveled this road daily, he would never have noticed such a subtle change. Before he could even wonder why the soil had been turned, the vehicle drove over the disturbed patch.

A faint sound reached Zhang Su's ears—a strange noise, yet one that carried an unmistakable hint of danger!

(End of Chapter)